Wild Cherries
by MizuKaji
Summary: Elani Meruberi is strange. Her only friend is Hikari, and the two of them are inseparable. People say she's a demon. No one knows if it's true until a team is sent from Reikai to investigate the strange occurrences in the neighborhood. What is she hiding?
1. The First Meeting

Author Note: The main character of this story is Elani Melbari. Since she is in Japan, her name will be pronounced by others as Eruani Merubari. Her friend's name is Hikari (meaning Light, you'll see why later), and Elani abbreviates it as Kari (Car-E). Kari, in turn abbreviates Elani's name as Ni (meaning red or two in Japanese). I hope this helps avoid any confusion. On another note, this is my first time using this site, so if it uploads funny, just let me know. I'm having a bit of trouble figuring it out, but it's all good. I don't know why I'm working on this story during finals week, but I hope you enjoy it. You should also know that I like making stories long. I will, however, need a bit of prodding (I'm working on other stories outside of this site) so I'd appreciate it if you review. I LOVE comments. Feel free to "bother" me whenever you want. Enjoy!...

...

Elani walked down the crowded school hall. Next to her, her friend Hikari walked. She was tall, blonde, tan, blue-eyed, well liked by everyone... everything Elani wasn't. They were two people so unlike that it didn't seem possible they could even be found in the same room together. Elani was short, with hair the color of dark cherries, pale skin, deep chocolate-brown eyes, and, most importantly of all, she was an outsider.

People said Elani was strange – a loner, more or less – and antisocial; she supposed it was true. But at the heart of these things, it was apparent that she simply had her own opinions and ideals that she stood by. These opinions were so different from theirs that they just couldn't possibly get along. An iron will, a stubborn mentality, and a resistance to change... that was Elani in a nutshell.

Compared to Kari's bright colors that she wore (she was like a ray of sunshine, and no one could deny it), Elani preferred the simple and comforting darkness of black. There was a reason, which was hers and hers alone, though she couldn't say if she was proud of it.

Every day she heard the whispers following her. Her schoolmates were frightened, claiming that she was a demon. A demon who had cunningly made her way into Kari's companionship, and the reason why Kari didn't care to be with anyone else, no matter how well liked she was. Elani felt the need to laugh at these assumptions, but decided not to waste her laughter on idiots. Besides, she knew that they thought these things because they were scared of her differences; to them she was strange.

Elani stepped outside to be greeted by the wind, with Kari following close behind as always As they rounded the corner Kari was commenting on the weather: "It's really so cold today... I just hate this kind of weather. How can you like it? The wind and the cold just rips through you and pulls your hair and clothes every which way..." she trailed off as Elani stopped, staring at the scene in front of them. Elani supposed she was glad for the silence; she loved Kari dearly – being inseparable friends – but sometimes she was a bit much. She knew Elani well enough to comment on her every feeling, and Elani didn't need her feeding that dialogue to strangers. Really, sometimes she felt like Kari was handing them _The Complete Psychoanalysis of Elani Melbari_. For some reason Kari was always right in reading her though; it was unnerving.

In the silence Elani examined the group of four that stood in front of her, not overly-concerned. She immediately wrote the tallest, a carrot-top with beady black eyes, off as a nuisance.

Her eyes moved to the next: a boy with slicked-back black hair and brown eyes. He seemed a bit more capable than the first. She could sense the large amounts of energy coming from him. He could cause trouble, Elani thought absently; she would have to keep an eye on him.

She then examined the boy standing next to him; he had striking red hair and green eyes, but that wasn't what held her attention. He had the most unusual energy signature of anyone she had ever met. Was he a demon, or just someone with a high level of spirit energy? Whatever he was, he was dangerous. The energy seemed beautiful and unassuming at first, but Elani could feel the threat behind it. Like the thorns of a rose she thought as the image came unbidden into her mind.

She brushed it away, moving onto the last member of the group. He seemed to be about her height, making him rather short, but he seemed to be one of the most dangerous as well. Warning bells went off in her mind screaming "demon". His hair made an impressive effort to defy gravity, and his crimson eyes seemed to be digging through dim corners of her mind. Elani repressed a shudder. After all, it must have been her imagination; she had never before heard of a demon that could read minds, so if there were any, they must have been few and far between. Elani looked away quickly.

Her analysis of the group had only taken a few seconds, for she had a sharp mind and could analyze things quickly and efficiently. Elani glanced at Kari, noting that she seemed to be a bit more on edge than usual. She squeezed Kari's arm gently to comfort her, and Kari flashed a brief glance in her direction, biting her lip. Elani didn't think she had missed anything important in her brief analysis, and when their eyes met, Elani's expressed the true calm that Kari's seriously lacked. The group didn't seem to be intent on hostilities, Elani conveyed with a look. Kari got the message and calmed visibly, looking back to the group. They didn't seem to be openly hostile, but Elani had no doubt they would resort to violence if they had to. She would have to be more cautious than usual.

The boy with the slicked-back hair stepped forward; he seemed to be their leader. "So," he began, "We heard there've been some pretty strange things going on around here. Have you heard anything?"

Damn. Someone found out about that fight a few days ago Elani thought, but didn't answer. She gave Kari's arm one last reassuring squeeze before letting go. Neither of them would answer that particular question, but she knew that Kari would let her do the talking when the time came. Elani was always able to come up with more sharp responses, being more cunning than Kari was in general. Kari was too kind to come up with the biting retorts and sarcastic remarks that Elani could and did. Besides, Elani knew how to get out of just about any situation.

Their leader spoke up again: "Fine, let's cut the crap. We think you're a demon," he pointed at Elani, "and demons aren't allowed to be in the ningenkai without a special permit from Koenma, Jr. ruler of Reikai, yadda yadda yadda... basically, we've been sent to retrieve you."

Elani must have looked a bit surprised – she hadn't known about this rule before, seeing as it really was nothing that concerned her – because the red-head cut in smoothly, saying, "We didn't come here for a fight, so if you could just answer this one question: are you a demon, or not? If you can't prove that you aren't, then I'm afraid you will have to come back with us-"

"Guilty until proven innocent, huh?" Elani interrupted.

He ignored her and continued where he left off, "Perhaps if you don't cause trouble, we'll be able to get you a permit for your residence."

There was a moments silence in which Elani looked at them with deliberate calm before answering: "That you should think I'm a demon is really quite amusing. However, as you can see I'm not, I won't be going with you." She started to turn away.

"I'm afraid we can't let you do that," Red said, right as the carrot-top shouted "Wait!"

Elani saw out of the corner of her eye a blur of black; the short boy had disappeared. Her eyes suddenly adjusted as a pressure was lifted from her, and she saw the swinging blade coming at her. The boy in black was about to stop her by pinning her down. She glanced at her friend.

Suddenly, Kari was in front of her, blocking his swing. Don't get the wrong idea: she wasn't as fast as the boy with the katana. As far as Elani could tell, no one could be, but Kari was closer to her to begin with. The four boys looked confused – rather shocked even – as Kari blocked his swing.

...

Yes, I'm evil. Cliffhanger! Hopefully, the next chapter will be out soon, so I hope you look forward to that...

...

I'm adding this note because I've recently been told that I was a bit confusing in my opening note. Sorry. Colonel Bastard was helpful in pointing out that if the main character's name is Elani (pronounced El-lawn-nee in English), in Japanese it would be Erani (since their Ls are Rs). I just decided that I liked Eruani better, so I used that instead. (Also, I kind of figured that Elani would be a strange name in Japan, so people probably wouldn't pronounce it right anyway. I know I have trouble with foreign names. Therefore, it didn't matter whether I made her Erani or Eruani). Now that you've had a look into my (strange) mind, I hope you understand why I chose Eruani. If you don't, then just ignore it. She's a fictional character anyway and I can make her whatever I want to. Why? Because I'm just evil like that... :D

And I'm done with school... :D so the next chapter should be up soon.

Later.

...MK...


	2. The Disappearing Act

Author Note: Okay, I've gotten the next few chapters written out, and one more typed. Hopefully, you'll enjoy this chapter. It isn't the best fight scene I've ever written, but then again, this story isn't solely about fighting. There are other themes and more action coming up soon. The first few chapters are to learn more about the characters and the purpose, or main theme, of this story. I really hope you like it! And the faster you comment, the faster I'll post the next chapter. All I have to do now is look over it and make sure it reads alright. 'Kay?

...

Confusion briefly showed on the faces of the boys. Who was the demon? The shorter girl had just released a burst of energy larger than she should have been capable of producing. The taller, blonde girl was the one doing all the fighting though. Come to think of it, Koenma hadn't barely mentioned the blonde --Kari was it -- in his brief overview of the case. Damn it. Koenma still hadn't changed a bit; he never had any information for them.

The boys thought back to their meeting.

"This is your next case," Koenma had said as he pressed a button. Suddenly a picture of the dark haired girl appeared on the screen. She could be described as plain, but attractive. The only thing unusual about her was her hair – it was the color of dark cherries – but demons often had strangely colored hair. "You have to find this demon and bring her back to spirit world. So far, she hasn't done any harm to humans, but her fighting with other demons is unacceptable as innocent bystanders could get hurt. It would be a shame to kill her; we might be able to put her to good use. That's why I'd like her _alive_. Understand?"

The toddler looked over to see Yuske and Kuwabara bickering about fighting a girl.

Koenma decided to end their fight: "I don't care how you get her here. Just do it!"

"Hey! Are you listening to me? YUSKE!! KUWABARA!! This is serious business! HEY!! LISTEN TO ME!!" At which point the toddler had thrown them all out of the room, but not before adding as a side note. "Oh, and this is her friend Hikari. She's human, but they're usually together, so if you find one, the other should be nearby. Good luck." They had then been sent through the portal Botan had prepared and ended up at this school.

They looked at the two girls before remembering just where they were. These girls were their enemies. But what were they supposed to do now that they had found them?

"So you are the demon," Kurama said dryly to the girl known as Hikari.

Hiei pushed backwards off of the shield of light attached to Hikari's left arm that had blocked his last attack. She had a matching blade on her other arm that stretched from the outer side of her hand to the point of her elbow. Hiei landed next to Kurama, his sword already back in its sheath.

Together, the group of boys surveyed their situation, each wondering what was to be done. Their mission had been entirely based off of false information.

"Well, I guess this means we'll just have to take both of you back to Reikai with us," Yuske said as he stepped forward, ready to fight. That was when all hell broke loose.

Yuske fired a ray of spirit energy yelling, "Spirit Gun!"

Kari moved to block it with her shield of light and it bounced back towards the Spirit Detectives, who scattered.

Kurama used this opportunity to come at the two girls from the side. He swung his whip at Kari, trying to pin her arms to her sides, thinking that this would end the fight.

Kari would have stayed to face Kurama, but Yuske fired another round of spirit bullets -- "Shotgun!" -- at her from her other side. She was forced to leave Eruani and fight Kurama one-on-one a little ways away. Yuske was about to follow them, but Kurama signaled with a glance that this was his fight. Yuske shrugged and turned to see how the others were doing.

Hiei was leaning back against a tree, watching Eruani with narrowed eyes to make sure she didn't try to escape.

"Hey, Hiei. I thought you liked a fight," Yuske called as he headed back towards Eruani.

"Hn. I'm not going to be sent to a Reikai prison simply because I killed a weak human," Hiei stated flatly. Yuske just went to stand under the tree near Hiei.

Eruani was watching the fight between Kurama and Kari while keeping an eye on her surroundings. However, she didn't see Kuwabara sneaking up from the side until he shouted "Spirit Sword, wrap around!" Startled, Ni jumped out of its way, narrowly avoiding being encircled by the sword. She had underestimated him and his determination; so had his teammates. They all knew Kuwabara wouldn't fight girls, but he apparently would "capture" them if necessary.

Out of the corners of their eyes, Kari and Kurama watched the two. Then Kurama snapped out his whip, only for it to be blocked by Kari's blade again. Their fight continued.

A slight breeze stirred the bottoms of Ni's black cargo pants and a small cloud of dust rose around her black leather boots. A few pieces of hair that had fallen out of her messy bun swayed in the gentle wind and framed her face. She directed a cold stare at her pursuer.

Kuwabara was concentrating hard, controlling his sword and making it chase Ni around in their strange and dangerous game of tag. She, however, skipped lightly out of its way each time as if she was being carried on the wind.

She was fast, too. Perhaps not as fast as Hiei, but she was surprisingly close. Finally, Kuwabara abandoned the idea of catching her with his sword, and dissipated his energy. They stood facing each other for a moment while Yuske and Hiei watched both of the fights simultaneously. Ni didn't seem to be out of breath, but Kuwabara was panting from the effort of controlling his energy.

He made one final attempt to catch her, and lunged for her without the sword, but she sidestepped out of his reach and he fell into the dirt with a thud. It took him a tremendous effort to pull himself up. It wasn't fair: he had to use his energy to catch her without killing or seriously injuring her, while she was free to do what she pleased... including running away. She hadn't even used a single drop of energy since they started! Damn it, he knew she had energy, so where was it! Why didn't she have to use it!? Life just wasn't fair sometimes.

Ni -- being the distracted person that she was -- started watching Kari's fight. She didn't notice that Yuske wasn't with Hiei anymore until he appeared right in front of her and lunged forward. She wouldn't be able to move out of the way quickly enough, and mentally kicked herself for her ADD resembling habits.

Her eyes widened slightly as she watched him come forward before a patch of air rushed up from below him and hit him directly in the face. He was knocked back a few feet and, stunned, rubbed his cheek. Ni took this opportunity to collect herself and move away.

Yuske looked at her strangely -- still rubbing his stinging cheek -- as the small patch of moving air went back to position itself at her right side. She reached down and let the breeze run through her fingers as if it were alive. Yuske was left wondering exactly what it was. It appeared to come to about mid-thigh on Eruani, making it rather short, and it might have been some sort of invisible creature. Then again, it had felt like wind when it had attacked him earlier.

Was she a demon too? Were both of these girls demons?

There was an unexpected moment of calm before the two girls glanced at each other and then bolted, breaking Yuske's train of thought. The boys chased after them as they ran. Yuske fired another shot. Eruani grabbed Kari's arm and continued running as Kari turned around to block the shot. Eruani pulled her friend along down the deserted field by the school until they reached a copse of trees.

Just then, Hiei appeared in the air in front of them. His sword split the air where they had been a moment before, as they quickly dodged to the side. He landed, sheathing his sword. Koenma had been a fool in assigning this mission. How were they supposed to bring these girls back without injuring them when they were so determined to get away? A full attack would be too much for their bodies, but it was too hard to capture them without attacking. The Spirit Detectives were stuck, while the girls had many options open to them.

Eruani's fingers dug harder into Kari's arm and she collected her energy before sending it surging through her friend's body. She dove for the shadows, pulling Kari with her.

They disappeared.

The boys slowed, with the exception of Hiei, who found the remnants of a temporary shadow portal. It was closed now, however, and the girls' energies were gone.

...

End Note: I hope you enjoyed it! And if you ever have ideas for this story just let me know, and I'll see if I can put it in somewhere. I always appreciate comments!

...MK...


	3. The Mineshaft

AN: Whew. So... just found this story from four years ago and realized that I'd had this chapter typed out all along. Silly me. So, since the first couple of chapters are already up, I figured I'd post this. I don't know if I'll continue it. Depends on the response I get. I've lost my story notes, so either I'll find them when sorting through moving boxes this weekend, or I'll make up a new storyline... And if I do continue it, I'll edit the first few chappies again.

. . .

Elani picked up the skull, turning it this way and that.

"Light," she said concisely. Kari made ball of light in her hand, illuminating the chamber in the mineshaft Elani had found. The tunnel was old. It had probably been there for thousands of years. That was why they were there. They were searching for it: the thing that would help keep both of them hidden. Supposedly, the artifact could conceal energy without locking it away.

Kari complained again: "It's creepy." She shuddered, and kept her voice low: "Hey, Eruani, I don't like being here. It's so... dark."

"You're the demon here. I'm only human, and yet I'm not scared of being here. Besides, there's no need to worry: everything here is dead," Elani said, putting the skull down and moving farther into the tunnel, searching...

"Exactly! It's dead!" Kari whispered urgently, "And you know that I'm a Light Demon; I don't take well to this dark work. I don't know how you can stand it. Really, you're so morbid for a human..."

Suddenly, Elani paused. Her hand shot out to rest against Kari's shoulder, effectively stopping her.

"Ewww... you were just touching that skeleton!" she protested loudly.

"Shh..." Elani held a finger to her lips. Kari watched as Elani cocked her head and listened. Well, felt really. And what she felt were vibrations running through the ground. She thought she heard the rocks above their heads creak and groan as they scraped against one another.

Without an explanation, she grabbed Kari's hand and ran back the way they had come. She was running back to the outside world, the one beyond the cave. She judged it would be nighttime by now.

Kari was scared; Elani could feel it. Her light flickered and went out. Elani pulled her along still, both of them being able to see at least relatively well in the dark.

Then it happened... Kari tripped.

Elani heaved her up and kept running – faster now – pulling Kari along behind her. They had to get out before it was too late.

She saw the light of the tunnel's opening as they rounded the last curve. The tunnel walls were shaking now, heaving violently. The rocks above the opening were shifting, clumps of dirt and small pieces breaking off and falling in front of them. With one arm Elani covered her head and blocked it from the pieces of rock that were threatening to crush them both, to lock them in...

Elani burst out into the clearing, Kari right next to her, both breathing heavily from fright.

After a moment of silence, Kari spoke breathlessly, "Come on, let's go." She turned to leave.

Elani put a hand on her arm. "Wait," she said.

"You know it wasn't there, Ni. Besides, look at the tunnel. I told you it wasn't safe. It's practically a thousand years old. This definitely wasn't a good-"

But Elani wasn't listening. She cut Kari off: "That's just it! Don't you see?" she moved back towards the blocked tunnel entrance, "The chances of this tunnel collapsing now, when it has stood already for so long are close to none..."

"Still, it was probably just a coincidence. I mean, it had to come down sometime..."

"Just the entrance, Kari?" Elani said skeptically as she approached what was left of the tunnel's opening.

"What are you doing, Ni?" Kari called almost frantically.

"I'm trying to find a way back in," she replied calmly.

"What!" Kari shrieked.

Elani ignored her. She placed a hand on one of the rocks to move it, before quickly snatching her hand back.

"Ni?" Kari asked nervously.

"Something's in there," she quietly replied, "Something... alive." Elani could still feel the remnants of the strange energy on her hand, the rhythmic breathing of the creature. It pulsed in her veins like a giant heartbeat. She took a few steps back, keeping her gaze on the entrance, before turning around and walking back to Kari. Elani was very careful not to show that she was disturbed in the least; Kari was so easily scared of the things of the dark.

"Come on. We'll come back to find another way in later," she told Kari, placing a hand on the crook of her arm. She guided her friend away from the tunnel.

Elani didn't mention that there was someone – several someones, in fact – watching them. It was hard to place the exact location of their aura; they had hid it so well that she hadn't even noticed it at first. But now she recognized that it had been there for quite a while, and, thinking back, that she had felt it distantly while in the tunnel. It didn't seem like a hostile energy, however, so Elani decided to leave it be. It wasn't what had caused the tunnel entrance to collapse. She suppressed a shudder, thinking of being trapped in there forever, to add their bones to the pile.

Little did she know that they had already met the people who were now watching them. They had arrived shortly after the two girls had, and stationed themselves in a nearby tree overlooking the tunnel and the small clearing in front of it. They were curious, watching the girls to see just what they would do, why they were there, what they were looking for, and why they needed it. The small group would try again later to bring the girls back to the Reikai, but for now it didn't seem like either one of them was causing trouble. They really didn't see why they were there at all, other than the fact that they were forced to come on Koenma's orders.

. . .

Please REVIEW if you want me to continue this story...


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